Outside of budget lines, video game box and disc art these days is a unique and varied art. No two games' presentation looks the same. But for a short time, right back at the beginning of their days in the home console market, Nintendo bucked this trend. And it's a shame they never stuck with it.

Between 1983-84, much like it did in the West, Nintendo's games for its Famicom system in Japan had the same box art template. And almost the exact same cartridge art as well (with only colour changing between games).

There's an argument that this made things a little too bland, but just look at these things. Thirty years later, and they look better than they did at the time. The simple design, the strong colours, it's all so timeless.

This design flourish that dominates everything, the jagged bar running across the middle of the carts, was known as the "Pulse Line", and you might have seen it now and then in retro-themed Nintendo games, or on merchandise. Or even our logo for Kotaku East, which I designed a few years back with the Famicom design philosophy firmly in mind.